Manchester United supporters displayed a banner supporting immigration during Sunday’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.
The banner appeared in the corner over the tunnel just before the second half kicked off. It read: “MUFC proudly colonised by immigrants” and showed pictures of seven former and current players from overseas who have played for the club.
The players featured were Eric Cantona and Patrice Evra from France, Park Ji-sung from South Korea, Bruno Fernandes from Portugal, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Norway, Amad from the Ivory Coast and Casemiro from Brazil.
The display came in response to comments made by United’s minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe during a television interview in February.
Ratcliffe, a British billionaire who has lived in Monaco since 2020, told Sky News that the United Kingdom had been “colonised by immigrants”. He also made claims about the UK population that were factually incorrect.
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” Ratcliffe, 73, said at the time. “The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”
Official figures tell a different story. The Office for National Statistics estimated the UK population was 69.5 million in November 2025, compared to 67.1 million in 2020. Long-term net migration was 204,000 from 2024 to 2025.
A House of Commons research briefing from January this year showed 1.68 million people were claiming unemployment-related benefits in the UK as of December 2025.
Ratcliffe’s comments were widely criticised by United fans and political figures, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who called them “offensive and wrong”.
After the backlash, Ratcliffe issued a statement saying he was “sorry that my choice of language has offended some people”. However, he did not fully apologise and stood by the main point of what he said.
“I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth,” his statement read.
Ratcliffe’s company INEOS took a minority stake in Manchester United in February 2024. The company now oversees the club’s sporting operations and has made many changes since taking control.
The banner on Sunday was seen as a direct message to Ratcliffe from fans who disagreed with his comments about immigration.